Sponsors (2)
The bill expands veterans' access to in-home care by allowing nurse registry personnel into VA community care, improving timeliness and options but risking higher costs and variable quality across states.
Veterans will be able to receive home and community-based care from nurse registry personnel (RNs, LPNs, CNAs, home health aides, companions, homemakers) through the Veterans Community Care Program, increasing access to in-home services.
The VA and community providers will have more provider options, allowing the VA to place qualified caregivers more quickly to meet veterans' needs and relieve some placement bottlenecks for hospitals and health systems.
Veterans' continuity and quality of care could be uneven across states if licensure, oversight, or registration standards for nurse registries vary, risking gaps in care or inconsistent standards.
Including nurse registries in community care could increase VA expenditures (and thus costs to taxpayers) if more paid home-care services are authorized and used.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Introduced February 19, 2025 by Thomas Hawley Tuberville · Last progress February 19, 2025
Adds nurse registries and the nursing and home-care staff who work through them to the list of providers eligible for payment under the Veterans Community Care Program. It also defines what a "nurse registry" means for that purpose and requires such registries to meet any applicable State licensure rules. The change does not create new funding, change payment rates, or add other program requirements; it simply recognizes nurse registries as an allowable source of care and clarifies the term in law.